What are beliefs? A belief, one could say, is the subjective truth that a person has developed about the world, about themselves, or about certain objects. Beliefs often do not operate on the conscious level, but instead take place in the subconscious. For this reason, they are experience-based and often emotionally shaped. A belief is an unconscious, inner logic. It is like an inner structure that provides orientation. Beliefs function like an inner frame: they determine how an event is internally classified – and from this, the reaction arises. «The belief is the inner frame and lies between event and reaction.» The formation of beliefs – results of past experiences A belief emerges from experiences of the past and functions like an inner explanatory and predictive model. Put simply, it is formulated like this: «If this happens, then that follows.» Often it is also phrased as «I am someone who…», «Whenever …, then …» If, for example, someone was hurt by another person, the subconscious deals with this situation in its own way: figuratively speaking, it recognizes patterns, draws conclusions, and stores them as memory – with the intention of making protective mechanisms available in the future that keep the body budget in balance. If, later in life, one encounters another person with a similar characteristic, this inner system predicts that this could be a similar situation and therefore a potential danger of being hurt again. It is like the automatic and rapid warning: «Attention – this will very likely hurt again.» In neuroscientific terms: «This could negatively influence the body budget.» (Fun fact: Did you know, that all brandnew brain science shows: it is all about money and budget, too? That`s the brain`s main task: body budget management). Dealing with beliefs A number of beliefs are no longer up to date, as they originated once in the past and have not been re-examined since. They are not wrong in the sense of being “imagined,” but they may no longer describe the current present, or only parts of the present. Often, they reflect a former view of the world. Therefore, it can be useful to look at these beliefs anew and to further develop them. One could also say: to reformulate them or rewrite them. This can be done through addition, differentiation, relativization, reclassification, or rewording. Even if two contradictory beliefs were actually experienced, it can be the case that only one of them is believed, while the other is faded out. This logic serves orientation and protection from similar situations and keeps the body budget at a meaningful level. It is not wrong. It is based on what a person has experienced and lived. Changing beliefs The underlying idea when changing beliefs is therefore that people have also experienced the positive opposite side of a belief, but that this has been faded out. The goal of the following audio exercise will therefore be to look, once guided and in the appropriate state of consciousness, at where such opposite situations may have existed. In this way, the belief becomes believable again. An example: There may have been at least just as many situations in life in which «I always have to control everything» was true as situations in which «it has also felt good to let myself go with certain people.» Such a more differentiated perspective, developed in this way, can help in everyday life. With regard to beliefs on the topic of «enjoying making YouTube videos» there may be at least just as many situations of «videos are not for me» as «I have also enjoyed making videos before.» In order to inspire you: Further examples on this topic: «Podcasting is just way more comfortable for me, it’s not video.» ↔ «There have been situations where video felt comfortable / felt like a comfort zone to me.» «I see myself on video and would rather not like what I see.» ↔ «There are video examples of me where I liked the way I looked there.» «Video is work.» ↔ «Video is fun.» OR: «Work can be fun.» OR: «It feels good to have worked.» OR: «there are situations where it felt good to say yes to a challenge.» Whatever your belief may be: As we have seen, this exercise pursues the goal of making already experienced counter-experiences accessible again differentiating the inner perspective and giving the new belief a realistic place in your experience You will discover that the new belief is not artificial, but has often already been part of your history – it may simply have moved into the background. Enjoy.